Fading Glances
by Smiling-Fox
Summary: Prompts for Zutara Week 2010! My first time participating. Just some fun one-shots on a personal favorite Pairing. Zuko x Katara  Rating is for safety
1. Alternate Universe

A/N: Hello again ! It's been a while!

A short little thing written for Zutara week 2010, which I swore to myself to participate in this year! But, since it falls on the same week as Otakon (Best week EVER!) I really have no time to get anything of substance done. I'm hoping to complete all the prompts either late next week or the one following.

Now, this. This is done for the prompt Alternate Universe (Yes, I'm even going out of order. Bad, bad fox…) It's deranged, insane, confusing, and not even good. But it was fun to write. =) A LOT of fun. The thought hounded me from the instant I woke up this morning until I had it typed out. (And please excuse all typos; I'm bringing this to you from my office!) It's not overly Zutarian, just enough for a taste. Enjoy, or don't enjoy. =) Thank you!

Katara was, as usual, the first to sign on.

She typed her password in twice, once for the login screen of the game and again to join the online voice chat. Realizing it could take a good few minutes before anyone else got to their computers, she absently set about cleaning off sections of her desk so she would have more room to move her mouse.

Her brother's voice soon sounded down the hallway, "Hey, Katara?"

"Yeah?" she shouted back, dropping a pile of books onto the floor.

"Was there a patch?"

"Ugh, like two days ago, Sokka! And it took forever to download!"

She heard her older sibling swear loudly and slam something – possibly his whole keyboard – against his desk, knowing that he'd probably be the last one online. Katara was just about to scold him for misuse of 'delicate machinery' when a voice, grainy from the program they were using, called happily and cheerily over her computer, "Hey guys!"

With a smile, she donned her headset and slumped into her computer chair, "Hey Aang!"

There was a pause where she knew he was checking for names, "We're the only ones on. Isn't Sokka home yet?"

"Oh, he's home." Katara's eyes rolled as she heard her brother coaxing his download to run faster, "He's just an idiot. He'll be on in a second." She watched as the little character that Aang was controlling from his own computer came trotting up to hers with a friendly wave. She grinned to herself and made her character respond accordingly.

"So. Just us, huh?" Aang's voice crackled again, "That's…good. Very good. I've been meaning to ask you something, actually, and-"

"Sweetness! Twinkletoes! How's it going?" a loud voice interrupted, prompting Katara to switch programs for a second and turn her down. Toph's character joined them seconds later, jogging circles impatiently, "Where's Sir Sleuthiness? Tell him to get his butt in gear, we're burning game time."

Katara laughed, relayed the message to her brother with a quick shout, and settled in to the usual pre-game preparations as Aang and Toph exchanged a brief greeting.

"So what's the schedule tonight?" Toph asked.

Aang responded right away, "We're going to try a dungeon run, 10-man. Friends from the guild. It should go pretty smoothly."

"Sweet. Dibs on loot."

"You can't call dibs, Toph."

Katara heard a loud, happy shout from her brother's room. Sokka's own character finally joined them, and his voice was added to the ones speaking over the internet, though it echoed strangely from down the hall for Katara, "Alright! I'm here! Let's get this show on the- hey! Wait. Where's our cranky fire mage?"

"Zuko told me at school he'd be logging on tonight. Just give him a minute." Katara absently checked to see if he had signed on to either the game or the chat yet.

Aang's voice whispered over her speakers, "…you were talking to Zuko at school again? Like…a lot of talking?"

"Huh?" 

"There he is." Toph caught the name flash on her screen first and announced the arrival of their final, usual group member.

He gave the customary Zuko greeting; short, gruff, and almost rude, "Hey."

"Well it's about time, Jerk!" Sokka joked, "We've been waiting on you!"

One by one, the typical names clicked on over Katara's screen: Haru and Duke signed on at almost the same time, Yue a moment later, Suki joined them mid Sokka and Yue's unnecessarily long greeting, and then finally Jet.

"Evening everyone. Aang, Sokka…Katara." Jet's voice was smooth as usual, carrying that roguish tone with it. Katara giggled to herself. Zuko spoke into his microphone just to grunt his annoyance.

Toph shouted over the computer, sick of waiting, "Well, let's get moving! " Her character took off, and the mass of friends soon followed. The usual banter accompanied them as they moved over the screen – Suki and Yue trying (and failing) to flirt subtly with Sokka, each wanting to out-do the other. Haru was making off-handed comments. Duke reminded them twice of his early bed time and was laughed at mercilessly by Toph, who was intent on disobeying her own curfew by at least two hours. Katara spoke casually with Aang and Jet, occasionally interrupting herself to snap at her brother for the various things he was doing 'wrong' with his character. Sokka's usual defense was to make a crack at her and laugh loudly over everyone's speakers.

Their cranky fire mage, however, kept mostly silent, and Katara imagined him brooding even through the character on her screen, "You're awful quiet tonight, Zuko." Her voice struggled to be heard over the comical din that was Toph and Sokka's sarcasm.

"So?"

"So just wondering is all. Nothing to say?"

"…yes. Your gear sucks."

"_Excuse_ me?" It was the beginnings of a fight. Luckily it was nipped in the butt before it could become the usual shouting match over the internet, when every other member of their group went scrambling to mute their speakers.

Aang's voice called for silence as they reached their virtual destination, and they all responded in kind, "Alright guys. Here's the deal; Sokka, you're our main tank-"

"Yes!" he shouted, and his sister had to lean from her room to tell him to keep it down, so as not to interrupt Aang.

"- Haru, you'll be our off-tank. Katara will be healing them, and Yue, you keep the rest of us alive."

"Alright." Came Yue's soft answer, and Katara swore she saw Suki start to say something, but thought better of it and removed her hand from the button to talk.

"The rest of you, stay on your toes. Don't stand in fires and all that." A company of small laughter came from various voices.

"…and watch your threat, Katara." The brooding growl added as an afterthought.

"I know." She instantly snapped back.

Zuko gave an aggravated sigh, "No, you don't know. That's why I'm telling you."

"I know how to play this game, Zuko!"

"Guys." Aang warned, and was followed by most everyone else expressing some form of 'Not this again!' over the internet, "Come on. You two have to work together."

Toph deadpanned, "Yeah, cut the flirting."

Katara almost toppled from her computer chair, "_Toph_!"

"Less kissy-kissy, more smashing face!" the younger girl's character sprinted into the dungeon, eager as always, and her friends followed suit, thinking that would be the end of it.

How wrong they were.

The dungeon was going very smoothly, save for Sokka's occasional wrong turn here and there. And Toph getting a touch too overzealous about the amount of monsters she thought their group could handle. But naturally, Katara and Zuko were jumping down each other's throats at every little thing.

"Nice, real nice. Shoot fire at the wrong target. Good job, Zuko."

"Shut up and give me a heal."

"Ask nice."

For the most part, it went on ignored; their friends knew them. They knew that Katara and Zuko were just like that- confrontational, provoking, polar opposites. Like fire and water. It often spilled onto every aspect of their lives, video games included, so that no matter what it was they were engaged in, there was bound to be a fight at some point. But there was something…strange about it, and Aang had been noticing that more and more as of recently. There was no hatred between them, really. Just harsh words, heated glares, and an almost…need. Like they needed each other to fuel something. Aang mulled this over as he ran his character further through the dungeon, noting that the two people in question had stopped moving theirs entirely, and were likely typing furious and angry messages to one another to spare the group member from having to listen.

"Hey! Watch it!" Jet's voice suddenly rang over the computer speakers. "Oh, shoot. Incoming! Sokka, get back here!"

"Huh? What happened?" the cluster of characters hurried back to find a fight. Distracted by their bickering, Katara and Zuko had unknowingly been standing right where a group of virtual monsters walked passed, and were immediately assaulted. Jet's character was close enough to help keep the two alive while everyone rushed back. It was sloppy, but they survived. "Geeez, sis!"

"…sorry." Katara muttered into her microphone, making sure everyone's characters were fully healed.

Suki's voice chided her over the internet, "You know, this is exactly what Aang was saying before. Stay on your toes and all that? Remember?"

"It was Zuko's fault."

"What?" he shouted back, his voice grainy through the speakers.

"If I hadn't been typing to answer you-"

Aang sighed to himself. He thought so.

"- I would've been paying better attention! And you were just standing there! You'd better thank Jet for saving your rear-end, 'cuz you weren't getting a heal out of me!"

"Never!"

Aang's voice called for attention again, and they could tell from his tone this time that he was losing his patience, "Guys, that's enough! Whoever's fault it was doesn't matter anymore! You two need to stop fighting and work together!"

There was a long, heavy silence. Katara waited at her desk, arms and legs folded, scowling at her monitor. She was just waiting for Zuko to mouth off, defend himself and vilify her, because if it was a fight he wanted, he'd-

"Sorry."

Oh. Well…good then. Katara reached for the button to respond, ignoring the little pang of disappointment in her stomach, "Yeah, sorry."

"Alright. Let's just keep going." Aang moved his character forward, hoping his seemingly infinite patience wasn't going to be tested again.

Haru suddenly piped up, "The boss fight's coming up."

"Good." Sokka breathed a sigh of relief, "What boss is this?"

Toph answered, "Fire Lord…something. I always forget the name. He's a pain, though. You gotta watch the floor; he'll have fires all over. And he summons these suits of armor that cast flame spells. So that means Sokka and Haru have to pull those little nasty jerks away from the healers."

"Thanks Toph." Their fearless, and now exhausted, leader responded. They could always count on Toph to know just about everything during a fight.

"It's what I live for, Twinkletoes." Her voice carried a smug smirk with it, "Now are we all ready?" The voices responded like a roster, each giving a short and determined 'ready'. "Let's go break open that loot piñata!"

Their characters rounded the corner as a group and the Boss came in to view. "Ugh," Sokka made a sound of disgust through the speakers, "ugly."

"Ew." Yue mimicked his sentiment.

"Don't worry, Yue! I'll keep you safe!" Sokka's character flexed its muscles, and Katara found herself hating whatever programmer had added that into the game.

"Hn." Zuko suddenly made a strange sound over the computer, "There's a buff to fire spells in this room. Looks like I'll really be able to do some damage."

"And we'll probably be taking a lot of damage too." Aang drew his hands back a moment, wiped them roughly on his jeans, and pressed the button to speak, "Alright, Sokka. We're ready when you are."

Katara heard her older brother give something of a wicked cackle from his room down the hallway. His character then sped across the little virtual room, and he felt it necessary to scream over everyone's speakers, "_Warrior Slice!_"

The fight began without a hitch; patches of fire bloomed on the ground and the group danced around to avoid getting toasted, suits of armor materialized and went running only to be smashed by Sokka and Haru's characters. The Boss's health was slowly, but surely, being whittled down until it was less than a quarter of the way down.

Then, Yue made a horrifying announcement over the computer, "…I'm dead."

"Huh?"

"What?"

Half a dozen calls of shock and surprise sounded through their speakers. Aang hesitated in his attack long enough to check and see her character lying on the floor, "What happened, Yue?"

"One of those suits of armor. Sorry, it killed me pretty quickly."

"Damn!" the next voice to sound was Jet, "I'm down."

Toph grunted her displeasure into the computer, "Sokka! What are you doing! You're supposed to protect them!"

"I know, I know!" he sputtered, and Katara could hear him madly mashing his keys from down the hallway, "Just, I've got a lot here! Haru, help me out!"

Haru responded softly, "I've got a lot too."

The usual panicked mantras of 'no, no, no!' and 'c'mon!' broke out over the internet. Aang's voice dominated for a moment, "Katara. It's all on you."

"I know." She was the only one healing now, frantically trying to prevent any further deaths. She watched as Zuko's mage fell in line next to her on her monitor. With an agitated growl, Katara pressed her microphone to shout at him, "Zuko, what are you- "

Haru's character went dead. And a small army of fire-casting soldiers sped straight at Katara.

And were immediately blasted aside by Zuko.

"I've got your back. Just keep healing." His voice was its usual gruff snarl; even through speakers, there was no hiding that. More mobs of monsters slipped away from Sokka and hurried to take out the healer, and each time it was the little fire mage that drew their attention, blasting them to and fro, hurrying around in dizzying loops to avoid getting crushed. His character sustained heavy damages from keeping her safe, and each time before it seemed that he would join Jet, Haru and Yue in watching the fight from the ground, Katara sent a life-saving heal at him. Perfect synergy. Like water and fire combining into a misty, warming steam.

Katara heard her brother's computer chair hit the ground, guessing that he had jumped to his feet in his elation. The Boss had less than a fraction of health. "Come on, come _on_! Aaagh!"

"He's going down! Get him, Twinkletoes!" they could hear Toph slamming her whole hand onto her keyboard.

Aang's character stepped forward, and with a few quick key presses, unleashed a devastating attack that annihilated the very last sliver of the Boss's health. The Fire Lord fell over, defeated.

Happy cheers rang over the speakers.

"_Yesssssss!_ "

"Ya-hoo! Take that, you jerk!"

"Hah! Piece of cake! Knew it all along!"

"Alright! Go Team….Us!" Sokka momentarily left his keyboard, peeked a grinning face into his sister's room, and then promptly marched back, "What'd he drop, what'd he drop? _Oh_! Cool, he dropped his pants!"

"Dibs!"

"You can't call dibs, Toph!"

"Well too bad, 'cuz I did! Hand 'em over, Captain Warrior Slice!"

Aang sat back in his computer chair, smiling, "That was some amazing healing, Katara! Great job!"

"Oh, don't thank me. I wouldn't have been able to pull it off without Zuko." She grinned despite herself. The cranky mage in question still had fire damage ticking away at his life, keeping Katara busy throwing him bursts of healing.

He simply huffed through the speakers, "Eh."

"Well, good work, you two."

With all the congratulations and squabbling over loot coming through the speakers, Katara thought it might be better to thank Zuko with a typed message. He'd be far more likely to see it than hear anything she said right now, what with Toph's insistent demands and poor, poor Aang trying to mediate.

**Thanks**, she stated simply.

The typed response came a moment later, **No problem. But next time, don't waste time healing me, just stay focused.**

**Hah. How gallant! Are you willing to die for me? **Katara's hands flew across her keys, **Well, too bad. I won't let you.**

There was a long pause on his end before, **So, hey. How about tomorrow night, we do something together other than playing this game?**

**Like?**

**I dunno. Like go somewhere or something. I'd really like to-**

The rest went un-read, as both Katara and Sokka very suddenly logged off, each mashing the power button on their respective computers, at the sound of their father's voice bellowing through the house, "Sokka! Katara! You aren't on that game _again_, are you?"

A/N: Yes; they're playing World of Warcraft. =)

And for all intents and purposes, Toph's not blind. Unless you know a way to play computer games without seeing?


	2. Change

A/N: Gah. It seems my brain is just unwilling to go in order! Ah, well. I guess it's a good thing that I never officially enter into the competition. =) Also, I'll be stepping up the ETA on these prompts: they will be completed…eventually. *Grin*

Here now is Chapter 2, Change, which should have come AFTER Family, but…blagh. It doesn't seem to want to get written. Curse you, my personal muse!

Again, enjoy or don't enjoy. =) If you like these stories, cool, if not, that's okay too. And yeah; I don't own Avatar. At all. I would not have allowed that ending.

Chapter 2 - Change

It wasn't supposed to change anything.

It was just one, little kiss. The most unassuming, insignificant, tiniest kiss in all of the known universe - …okay, well maybe not. Maybe it was, in honesty, the best kiss she had ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Maybe she had been dreaming about the tingling sensation that reached all the way down to her toes at the contact for hours afterwards. Maybe it was the exact opposite of unassuming or insignificant. But it still wasn't supposed to change anything.

Stupid kiss.

It had started, of course, with a fight. _Everything_ between Katara and Zuko started with a fight; the popular theory among their friends was that the pair of them only woke up in the morning just so they could start fighting. It certainly seemed that way. Katara couldn't remember exactly what had set it off, but they had eventually decided to 'just spar' which very quickly turned into them actively trying to kill one another. Blood was drawn, curses spat, and tensions released. Water and fire hissed into steam above their heads. And just when she had him pinned, just as she was about to win their little duel, something in the back of her mind (her stupid, _stupid_ mind!) had decided it might be a good idea to kiss him. Apparently, Zuko's mind had been just as stupid, and he kissed back with fervor.

After they had parted, Katara had begun convincing herself that it was just one little kiss. It couldn't possibly change anything. Zuko was still Zuko, the cranky Fire Nation brat, and the next day he would do some little thing to tick her off and they'd be back to that comfortable love/hate relationship again.

But she was wrong.

The Waterbender was struck with an uncharacteristic shyness as soon as she laid eyes on the Fire Lord. It was ridiculous; it had her ducking around corners and sneaking through hallways like some love-sick teenager who was avoiding her crush…which, actually…was exactly what she was doing, now that she thought about it. She needed to talk to someone, to ask what she could possibly do to un-do this awful change. She needed advice, and she had a good idea of who to talk to. Suki. Because when it came to boneheaded decisions in the field of love, Suki had committed the all-time grand master; she was consciously _choosing_ to date Sokka.

Katara slid across the carpeting of the Fire Nation Palace and poked her head around a corner to check if it was clear. She heard the voice before she saw the figure of the very man she was avoiding; Zuko. He had paused to ask Aang something, though she could not hear what, and the waterbender quickly seized the opportunity. She sprinted down the long hall, not looking back to see if either of them noticed her. Katara rounded a corner to another hall, lunged at the handle to Suki's door, flung it open, and rushed inside, slamming the door shut and pressing her back to it. "_Oh, yeah, Katara…" _she thought bitterly to herself, "_that_ _was real mature."_

"Sis?"

The voice that greeted her was not the one she was expecting. Katara looked to the figure lounging haphazardly across Suki's borrowed bed, and it was not the graceful Kiyoshi warrior. It was her older brother, looking startled and confused at her sudden entrance, idly - Ugh! Oh by the spirits… - picking the dirt from his toes with the dull end of the new boomerang he had cried about getting. Katara made a face of disgust, "Why are you here?"

"I'm always here." Sokka shrugged, and his sister had to fight hard to push the mental image of that admittance from her brain before her stomach turned over, "Why are you here?"

"_I was hoping to talk to Suki." the waterbender eased herself away from the door._

"_Oh. Well, she's not here." that much was obvious. Much to his sister's revulsion, Sokka brought his boomerang to his head and proceeded to pick his ear clean, "Something about being all sweaty after warrior training. I think she went to take a bath." _

_Katara's gaze fell, "Oh." _

_The Water Tribe warrior caught the deflated look on his younger sister's face and straightened himself up, "Something on your mind?"_

"_I guess you could say that." her shoulders gave a light shrug. _

"_Here." he patted the bed next to him, signaling for her to come over, "Talk to your big brother."_

_It was that hopelessly optimistic, goofy grin of his, the same one she had seen just about every day of her life since birth, that had her relaxing with a sigh. Katara crossed the room, but, eyeing the filth on his boomerang warily, opted to just stand at the bedside. "Something's…changed.""Change is good!" his voice rose a millimeter and cracked on the last word. _

"_No. No, this is definitely not good." Katara's head shook, tossing her mess of chocolate curls, "It's not good at all."_

"_So what is it?" he shifted on the bed, waiting for her to explain. His sister couldn't help but notice, and almost smacked him for it, that his muddy boots were very clearly on the clean bed sheets. She made a mental note to tattle on him to Suki later."It's, well…" the waterbender gnawed at her bottom lip a moment, weighing the possibilities. There was a good chance that Sokka, with his track record, would fully understand the heart's fickle nature. But there was an equally good chance that he would storm out to find Zuko and bludgeon him to death for ever touching his little sister. "I, uhm…I think I like Zuko."_

_By now, she really should have been prepared for his answer, but his stupidity still had a way of surprising her from time to time, "Yeah, I like Zuko too, Katara." _

"_Sokka." she scowled at his dimwittedness._

"_He's a really good guy, y'know? Who would've ever thought. Dependable. Responsible." he continued on undaunted, "His jokes could use some work, though."_

"_Sokka!" she tried to draw his attention, arms folding hastily across her chest._

_He missed the hint. The warrior cocked his head aside and glanced up crookedly at his sister, "Remember when you hated him? Well, I mean, we all used to. With the chasing us around the world thing. And that pony-tail, heh. But, man. You gave him such a hard time when he finally came around to our side."_

_Guiltily, her mind cast itself back to those times. The glares, the distrust, the death-threats, "Yeah. I remember."_

"_A really hard time!" her brother sprawled fully across the bed, "I thought for sure one of you were gonna kill the other in their sleep!"_

"_Sokka! You're not helping!" she shouted, fists at her side. Sokka was exceptionally lucky that she did not have any water with her. _

_He held up his hands defensively, "Okay, okay. I'm just saying, that changed, didn't it?"_

_He had no idea. "…yeah."_

"_And that's a good thing." his grin spread across his face, "Isn't it? You don't need to worry about things changing. Change can be for the best." _

_It was remarkable. Sometimes, without saying all that much, her brother was able to speak volumes. Katara stood there for a moment, thinking it over. Maybe…it was an okay thing. More than okay, if that first kiss was any indication. But things between her and Zuko had always been so black and white, so clear and uncomplicated - either they hated each other, tolerated each other, or fought alongside each other. Very simple. This change threatened to make it much more convoluted, more thorny, and she found something about that very…intimidating. And somehow…exciting. "Change…can be for the best, huh?"_

_Sokka noted her thoughtful expression, and decided to interrupt, "Does that help?"_

_The waterbender found a small patch of bed that was uninhabited by her brother's limbs and lowered herself to kneel on it, "…yeah, actually. I guess it does."_

_He was all smiles, "Yep, yep. I do what I can."_

_Despite herself, Katara smiled, "Thanks, Sokka. You usually know just what to say." She reached over and ruffled half of his hair free from that 'warrior's wolf-tail' he was so proud of._

"_Yeah, well." with a smirk, he reclined further against the bed sheets, "Some things just never change, huh?" _

_A/N: Ending coulda been better, but I liked it. =)Shameless sibling cuteness with a dose of Zutara!_


End file.
